Mobile communications device, non-transitory computer-readable medium and method of activating update of home screen of mobile communications device

ABSTRACT

A method of activating an update of a home screen of a mobile communications device is provided. The home screen is displayed on a display panel of the mobile communications device. The home screen includes a plurality of tiles displaying a plurality of feeds from one or more feed sources. The method includes performing one of updating the home screen or activating and displaying a menu bar on the display panel based on a distance of a downward scrolling on a top page of a home screen. A non-transitory computer-readable medium and a mobile communications device for activating an update of a home screen of a mobile communications device are also provided.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This nonprovisional application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e)on U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/709,997, filed on Oct. 5,2012, U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/750,339, filed on Jan.8, 2013, and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/812,217, filedon Apr. 15, 2013, the entirety of which is incorporated herein byreference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a mobile communications device, anon-transitory computer-readable medium and a method, and moreparticularly to a mobile communications device, a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium and a method of configuring a home screen of amobile communications device, activating an update of a home screen of amobile communications device, and/or navigating between a plurality ofdifferent views of a home screen of a mobile communications device.

2. Background of the Invention

Conventionally, a user interface of a handheld mobile electronic deviceincludes a home screen with soft or hardwired button dedicated tobringing the user back to the home screen such that regardless of whichway the user navigates, the user can always have a starting point ofreference. Based on the starting point of reference, that is, the homescreen, a user may access various applications and obtain differentinformation from a variety of different sources or through differentapplications. However, as the number of application significantly grows,the volumes of information from these applications also growtremendously, which makes it more difficult to manage.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a moreeffective mechanism to manage, configure, update and/or navigate theinformation, the user interface, the views and/or the applications to bedisplayed on a home screen of a mobile communications device.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a method ofconfiguring and updating a home screen of a mobile communications deviceis provided. The home screen is configured and updated by a processorand displayed on a display panel of the mobile communications device.The method comprises providing a plurality of tiles, each of the tilesdisplaying a feed from a corresponding one of feed sources; filling thetiles into the home screen that has a top page, one or more pages beingaddable immediately above the top page, each page having a layout of aplurality of slots, each of the slots being for accommodating acorresponding one of the tiles; and after an update that results ininsertion of at least one new tile into the home screen occurs, placingthe at least one new tile displaying a new feed on the top page, andmoving at least one existing tile that was on the top page prior to theupdate to a new, different location of the home screen.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium containing a computer program product comprisesmobile communications device executable instructions for configuring andupdating a home screen of a mobile communications device to be displayedon a display panel of the mobile communications device. The mobilecommunications device executable instructions comprises: providing aplurality of tiles, each of the tiles displaying a feed from acorresponding one of feed sources; filling the tiles into the homescreen that has a top page, one or more pages being addable immediatelyabove the top page, each page having a layout of a plurality of slots,each of the slots being for accommodating a corresponding one of thetiles; and after an update that results in insertion of at least one newtile into the home screen occurs, placing the at least one new tiledisplaying a new feed on the top page, and moving at least one existingtile that was on the top page prior to the update to a new, differentlocation of the home screen.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, a mobilecommunications device comprises: a display panel displaying a homescreen; and a processor connected to the display panel and configured toconfigure and update the home screen, the home screen comprising aplurality of tiles, each of the tiles displaying a feed from acorresponding one of feed sources, wherein the processor is configuredto fill the tiles into the home screen that has a top page, one or morepages being addable immediately above the top page, each page having alayout of a plurality of slots, each of the slots being foraccommodating a corresponding one of the tiles, and wherein after anupdate that results in insertion of at least one new tile into the homescreen occurs, the processor is configured to place at least one newtile displaying a new feed on the top page, and to move at least oneexisting tile that was on the top page prior to the update to a new,different location of the home screen.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, a method ofconfiguring a home screen of a mobile communications device is provided.The home screen is configured by a processor and displayed on a displaypanel of the mobile communications device. The method comprises:selecting some of candidate feeds from one or more of feed sources basedon a predetermined budget, wherein each of the candidate feeds iscategorized into one of a plurality of categories, and the predeterminedbudget sets a first predetermined maximum number of feeds to be selectedin a corresponding one of the categories; inserting the selected feedsinto the home screen; and displaying the home screen that displays theselected feeds on the display panel.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium containing a computer program product comprisesmobile communications device executable instructions for configuring ahome screen of a mobile communications device to be displayed on adisplay panel of the mobile communications device. The mobilecommunications device executable instructions comprise: selecting someof candidate feeds from one or more of feed sources based on apredetermined budget, wherein each of the candidate feeds is categorizedinto one of a plurality of categories, and the predetermined budget setsa first predetermined maximum number of feeds to be selected in acorresponding one of the categories; inserting the selected feeds intothe home screen; and displaying the home screen that displays theselected feeds on the display panel.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, a mobilecommunications device comprises: a processor configured to select someof candidate feeds from one or more of feed sources based on apredetermined budget, and configured to insert the selected feeds into ahome screen, wherein each of the candidate feeds is categorized into oneof a plurality of categories, and the predetermined budget sets a firstpredetermined maximum number of feeds to be selected in a correspondingone of the categories; and a display panel connected to the processorand displaying the home screen that displays the selected feeds.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, a method ofactivating an update of a home screen of a mobile communications deviceis provided. The home screen is displayed on a display panel of themobile communications device. The home screen comprises a plurality oftiles displaying a plurality of feeds from one or more feed sources. Themethod comprises performing one of updating the home screen oractivating and displaying a menu bar on the display panel based on adistance of a downward scrolling on a top page of a home screen.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium containing a computer program productcomprising mobile communications device executable instructions foractivating an update of a home screen of a mobile communications deviceis provided. The home screen is displayed on a display panel of themobile communications device. The home screen comprises a plurality oftiles displaying a plurality of feeds from one or more feed sources, themobile communications device executable instructions comprisesperforming one of updating the home screen or activating and displayinga menu bar on the display panel based on a distance of a downwardscrolling on a top page of a home screen.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, A mobilecommunications device comprises: a display panel displaying a homescreen; and a processor connected to the display panel and configured toconfigure the home screen displayed on the display panel, the homescreen comprising a plurality of tiles displaying a plurality of feedsfrom one or more feed sources, wherein the processor is furtherconfigured to: perform one of updating the home screen or activating anddisplaying a menu bar on the display panel based on a distance of adownward scrolling on a top page of a home screen.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, a method ofnavigating between a plurality of different views of a home screen of amobile communications device is provided The mobile communicationsdevice comprises a home button, a processor, and a display panelconfigured to cooperate with the processor to display one of the viewsof the home screen. The method comprises: selectively displaying one ofthe views of the home screen on the display panel based on a number oftimes the home button is activated within a predetermined time period.

According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, anon-transitory computer-readable medium containing a computer programproduct comprising mobile communications device executable instructionsfor navigating between a plurality of different views of a home screenof a mobile communications device is provided. The mobile communicationsdevice comprises a home button, a processor, and a display panelconfigured to cooperate with the processor to display one of the viewsof the home screen. The mobile communications device executableinstructions comprises: selectively displaying one of the views of thehome screen on the display panel based on a number of times the homebutton is activated within a predetermined time period.

According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, a mobilecommunications device comprises: a home button; a display panel; and aprocessor connected to the display panel and the home button, andconfigured to navigate between a plurality of different views of a homescreen, wherein the processor is further configured to cooperate withthe display panel to: selectively display one of the views of the homescreen on the display panel based on a number of times the home buttonis activated within a predetermined time period.

Further scope of applicability of the present invention will becomeapparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, itshould be understood that the detailed description and specificexamples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, aregiven by way of illustration only, since various changes andmodifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will becomeapparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will become more fully understood from thedetailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawingswhich are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitativeof the present invention, and wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a mobile communications device inaccordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates the Feed view of the home screen in accordance withan exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates the Feed view of the home screen after an upwardvertical scrolling in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 4 illustrates the Feed view of the home screen after a downwardvertical scrolling in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating the requirements upon which theautomatic updates of the feeds would be triggered in accordance with anexemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 illustrates a flow chart to update the feeds in accordance withanother exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 7A-7D illustrate how to trigger the home screen update or theactivation and display of the menu bar in accordance with anotherexemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 8A-8B illustrate a top page and a second page of the home screenand the corresponding layouts of the top page and the second page of thehome screen in accordance with another exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 9 illustrates the location changes to the tiles and the layoutchanges when a new tile is inserted into the home screen in accordancewith an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 illustrates the location changes to the tiles and the layoutchanges when a new tile is inserted into the home screen in accordancewith another exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 illustrates several pre-defined layouts of the top page of thehome screen in accordance with exemplary embodiments of the presentinvention;

FIG. 12 illustrates several pre-defined layouts with four (4) slots forthe page below the top page of the home screen in accordance withexemplary embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 13 illustrates several pre-defined layouts with three (3) slots forthe page below the top page of the home screen in accordance withexemplary embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 14 illustrates an example of how the feeds in differentsub-categories of the corresponding categories are sorted and selectedin accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 15 is a flow chart illustrating selecting templates/layouts todisplay Feed contents in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention will now be described in detail with reference tothe accompanying drawings, wherein the same reference numerals will beused to identify the same or similar elements throughout the severalviews. It should be noted that the drawings should be viewed in thedirection of orientation of the reference numerals.

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a mobile communications device inaccordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Asembodied in FIG. 1, the mobile communications device 10 includes adisplay panel 12 and configured to cooperate with the processor todisplay one of the views of a home screen 14, and a processor 16connected to the display panel 12 and configured to configure the homescreen 14 displayed on the display panel 12.

The home screen can be configured into different views such as the Feedview, the Widget view, and the All Apps view. The Widget view is a viewof the home screen which may include at least one widget and applicationicons in the same home screen layout. Each application icon represents ashortcut to activate a corresponding one of the applications. An AllApps view is a view of the home screen which shows mostly applicationicons. The Feed view is a view of the home screen which displays aweather tile on top showing weather information and displays picturesand/or texts from a variety of difference sources in blocks of varioussizes.

Navigation Between Different Views of Home Screen

In order to navigate between a plurality of different views of a homescreen of a mobile communications device, as embodied in the presentapplication, the mobile communications device comprises a home button; adisplay panel; a processor connected to the display panel and the homebutton, and configured to navigate between a plurality of differentviews of a home screen, wherein the processor is further configured tocooperate with the display panel to selectively display one of the viewsof the home screen on the display panel based on a number of times thehome button is activated within a predetermined time period.

FIG. 2 illustrates the Feed view of the home screen in accordance withan exemplary embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2,the Feed view may include a time and weather tile 101 on the top of thehome screen, which displays the current time, the current date, and thecurrent weather information. The body 102 of the Feed view includestiles of the same or different sizes to present different feeds from avariety of different sources. The feeds may include information obtainedfrom external servers such as news servers, the social network such asthe Facebook server and the Twitter server, the Google server, etc. Thefeed server may also include information native to the mobilecommunications device. Since pictures selected from various sources mayvary in size, the tile sizes would be dynamically chosen, the pagesdisplayed in the Feed view could be sorted in an ascending or descendingorder according to time.

A user may switch between the Feed view and the Widget view in responseto a horizontal panning. For instance, when a user performs a touch andslide action toward the left or the right, the user may switch back andforth between the Feed view and the Widget view.

In an exemplary embodiment, a toggle switch icon is displayed on thedisplay panel exhibiting a specific one of the views that is notcurrently displayed, a first one of the views of the home screen that iscurrently displayed is switched to a second one of the views of the homescreen upon activation of the toggle switch icon; and the second one ofthe views of the home screen that is currently displayed is switchedback to the first one of the views of the home screen upon furtheractivation of the toggle switch icon. In an exemplary embodiment, thetoggle switch icon exhibits a representative of the second one of theviews when the first one of the views of the home screen is currentlydisplay, and the toggle switch icon exhibits a representative of thefirst one of the views when the second one of the views of the homescreen is currently display.

For example, as embodied in FIG. 2, at the bottom edge of the touchscreen, the touch screen may include a panel 103 which could behorizontally scrollable to display different application icons. Thecenter of the panel 103 may include a toggle switch 104, which can beactivated to switch to a different view as indicated by the icon of thetoggle switch 104. For instance, when the home screen is currentlydisplaying the Feed view or the Widget view, the toggle switch 104exhibits a representative of an All Apps view on the panel 103.Therefore, the user can be taken from the Feed view or the Widget viewto the All Apps view upon an activation of the toggle switch. When thehome screen is switched from the Feed view or the Widget view to the AllApps view (and the toggle switch 104 is currently exhibiting arepresentative of the Feed view or the Widget view) and the user pressesthe toggle switch for the second time, the user will be taken from theAll Apps view back to the Feed view or the Widget view.

In an exemplary embodiment, one of an immediately previous view of thehome screen and a predetermined one of the views of the home screen isdisplayed on the display panel when the home button is activated oncewithin the predetermined time period; and the other one of theimmediately previous view of the home screen and the predetermined oneof the views of the home screen is displayed on the display panel whenthe home button is activated twice within the predetermined time period.In an exemplary embodiment, the predetermined one of the views of thehome screen is displayed on the display panel when the home button isactivated more than twice within the predetermined time period.

For example, as embodied in FIG. 3, the bottom of the panel 103 mayinclude a home button 105, which can be activated to bring a user to oneof the views of the home screen. It should be noted that the home buttonoperates in a user configurable manner as a user could be brought todifferent views based on the number of times the user activates the homebutton. For instance, the user can preconfigure the home button 105 sothat when a user activates the home button for the first time, the useractivates the last visited home screen view. However, if the useractivates the home button twice, the user navigates to a userpreconfigured view of the home screen. This means that if the user haspreconfigured the home button to navigate to the Widget view, the userwill be taken back to the Widget view when the home button is twiceactivated. However, if the user activates the home button once, the userwould activate the last visited home screen view.

In another exemplary embodiment, the actions which result from the onceactivation or twice activation could be switched around. For instance,the user can preconfigure the home button 105 so that when a useractivates the home button for the first time, the user navigates to auser preconfigured view of the home screen. This means that if the userhas preconfigured the home button to navigate to the Widget view, theuser will be taken back to the Widget view when the home button is onceactivated. However, if the user activates the home button twice, theuser would activate the last visited home screen view.

In another exemplary embodiment, when a user presses the home button forthe third time and beyond, the user would still be taken to the userpreconfigured home screen view.

In an exemplary embodiment, a predetermined one of the views of the homescreen is displayed on the display panel when the home button isactivated once within the predetermined time period. In an exemplaryembodiment, when the predetermined one of the views of the home screenis currently displayed and the home button is activated once within thepredetermined time period, the predetermined one of the views of thehome screen is taken to a top of the predetermined one of the views ofthe home screen on the display panel.

For example, the user can preconfigure the home button 105 so that whenthe user activates the home button once within a predetermined timeperiod, the user navigates to a user preconfigured view of the homescreen, e.g., the Feed view, the Widget view or the All Apps view. If,however, before the user activates the home button 105, the current homescreen displayed on the display panel is for example the Feed view, andthe user preconfigured view is also the Feed view (i.e., the currenthome view is the same as the user preconfigured view), then the Feedview will be scrolled upward to its top portion and displayed on thedisplay panel when the user activates the home button 105 once withinthe predetermined time period.

In an exemplary embodiment, a processor of the mobile communicationsdevice is configured to cooperate with the display panel to perform theprocess of navigating between a plurality of different views of a homescreen of a mobile communications device. In another exemplaryembodiment, a non-transitory computer-readable medium (e.g., a memorydevice in the mobile communications device/processor or an externalmemory device accessible by the mobile communications device/processor)containing a computer program product comprising mobile communicationsdevice executable instructions can be executed by the mobilecommunications device to perform the process of navigating between aplurality of different views of a home screen of a mobile communicationsdevice.

FIG. 3 illustrates the Feed view after an upward vertical scrolling inaccordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. A usermay browse contents below the current view of the home screen byscrolling upwards from the Feed view as shown in FIG. 2 by performing atouch and upward swipe gesture. The scroll upward will bring up olderupdates and can be presented in a different tile layout.

Activation of Update of Home Screen

In order to activate an update of a home screen of a mobilecommunications device, as embodied in the present application, a mobilecommunications device comprises a display panel displaying a homescreen; and a processor connected to the display panel and configured toconfigure the home screen displayed on the display panel, the homescreen comprising a plurality of tiles displaying a plurality of feedsfrom one or more feed sources, wherein the processor is furtherconfigured to: perform one of updating the home screen or activating anddisplaying a menu bar on the display panel based on a distance of adownward scrolling on a top page of a home screen.

For example, FIG. 4 illustrates the Feed view after a downward verticalscrolling in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention. Downward vertical scrolling can be activated when a userperforms a touch and downward gesture on the touch screen. The downwardvertical scrolling would tug everywhere on the screen and bring up amenu bar 110, which can be attached to a top/lower edge of the time andweather tile 101. From the menu bar 110, a user may browse and searchtop stories of various new servers and share the stories on a socialnetwork. The downward tugging action may trigger an update of the feedsaccording to the scrolling speed, distance and/or the time of scrolling.

A measure is put in place to prevent unnecessary update of the feeds.When unintended updates of the feeds are performed against the will ofthe user, not only is time wasted but battery power would be drained.For instance, when the user tries to scroll from the bottom of the feedsto the top of the feeds really fast, the user may accidentally triggerthe update by accidentally performing one touch and swipe stroke toomuch, since it is difficult for a normal user to control the timing andthe number of the strokes when the scrolling is very fast. Therefore, aset of requirements based on time, distance and/or speed of the downwardvertical scrolling is put in place to prevent unintentional update ofthe feeds.

In an exemplary embodiment, the process of performing one of updatingthe home screen or activating and displaying the menu bar on the displaypanel is based on both the distance and the speed of the downwardscrolling on a top page of a home screen. In an exemplary embodiment,the speed and the distance of the downward scrolling on the top page ofthe home screen is measured; and the home screen is updated only whenthe speed of the downward scrolling is determined to be not greater thana predetermined speed threshold and the distance of the downwardscrolling is greater than a predetermined distance threshold. In anexemplary embodiment, a menu bar is activated and displayed on thedisplay panel when either the speed of the downward scrolling isdetermined to be greater than the predetermined speed threshold, or thespeed of the downward scrolling is determined to be not greater than thepredetermined speed threshold but the distance of the downward scrollingis determined to be not greater than the predetermined distancethreshold. In an exemplary embodiment, the speed of the downwardscrolling on the top page of the home screen is measured, the menu baris activated and displayed on the display panel when the speed of thedownward scrolling is determined to be greater than a predeterminedspeed threshold, the distance of the downward scrolling is measured whenthe speed of the downward scrolling is determined to be not greater thanthe predetermined speed threshold, the home screen is updated when thedistance of the downward scrolling is determined to be greater than apredetermined distance threshold; and the menu bar is activated anddisplayed on the display panel when the distance of the downwardscrolling is determined to be not greater than a predetermined distancethreshold. In an exemplary embodiment, the menu bar is activated anddisplayed on the display panel without updating the home screen when thespeed of the downward scrolling is determined to be greater than thepredetermined speed threshold. In an exemplary embodiment, the menu baris activated and displayed on the display panel without updating thehome screen when the distance of the downward scrolling is determined tobe not greater than the predetermined distance threshold.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating the requirements upon which theautomatic updates of the Feed would be triggered in accordance with anexemplary embodiment of the present invention. In step S501, thevelocity/speed of the downward scrolling is measured. The scrollingvelocity/speed could be measured according to the number of pixels persecond or could be measured based on the displacement of a moving pixel.After the scrolling velocity/speed has been measured, in step S502, thescrolling velocity/speed is compared against a non-zero predeterminedvelocity/speed threshold. If the scrolling velocity/speed exceeds thepredetermined velocity/speed threshold, then only the menu bar 110 isdisplayed and an update is not performed. If the scrollingvelocity/speed does not exceed the predetermined velocity/speedthreshold, then the process proceeds to step S503 during which thedistance of the tug is measured. After the distance of the tug has beenmeasured, then in step S504, the distance of the tug is measured againsta predetermined distance threshold. If the tugging distance exceeds thepredetermined distance threshold, then the feeds are updated. Otherwise,only the menu bar 110 is displayed as the feeds are not updated.

In another exemplary embodiment, the process of performing one ofupdating the home screen or activating and displaying the menu bar onthe display panel is based on the distance of the downward scrolling ona top page of a home screen. In an exemplary embodiment, the distance ofthe downward scrolling on the top page of the home screen is measured, amenu bar is activated and displayed on the display panel when thedistance of the downward scrolling on the top page of the home screen isdetermined to be not greater than a predetermined distance threshold,and the home screen is updated after the distance of the downwardscrolling on the top page of the home screen is determined to be greaterthan a predetermined distance threshold. In an exemplary embodiment, aninitiation requirement to be fulfilled to initiate updating the homescreen is displayed on the home screen when the distance of the downwardscrolling on the top page of the home screen is determined to be greaterthan the predetermined distance threshold, wherein the home screen isupdated upon fulfillment of the initiation requirement. In an exemplaryembodiment, the time of the last update of the home screen is displayedon the home screen with the initiation requirement when the distance ofthe downward scrolling on the top page of the home screen is determinedto be greater than the predetermined distance threshold. In an exemplaryembodiment, an updating progress on is displayed on the home screenuntil completion of updating the home screen.

For example, as embodied in FIG. 6, which illustrates a flow chart toupdate the feeds in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention. In step S601, the distance of the downwardtug/scrolling is measured. In step 602, the measured distance of thedownward tug/scrolling is compared with a predetermined distancethreshold. If the measured distance of the downward tug/scrolling is notgreater than the predetermined distance threshold, a menu bar isactivated and displayed on the display panel, and the home screen willnot be updated. If the measured distance of the downward tug/scrollingis greater than a predetermined distance threshold, then the home screenwill be updated.

In addition, as embodied in FIGS. 7A-D, which illustrate how to triggerthe home screen update or the activation and display of the menu bar. Asshown in FIG. 7A, a home screen is displayed on the display panel. InFIG. 7B, a downward tug/scrolling with a distance that is not greaterthan a predetermined distance threshold occurs on the home screen, andthe menu bar (e.g., the portion below the time and weather tile showing“Top Stories” and other items in FIG. 7B) is activated and displayed onthe display panel. In FIG. 7C, when the distance the downwardtug/scrolling is greater than the predetermined distance threshold, aninitiation requirement to be fulfilled to initiate updating the homescreen (e.g., the texts “RELEASE TO REFRESH” shown in FIG. 7C) isdisplayed on the home screen. In addition, as embodied in FIG. 7C, thetime of the last update of the home screen (e.g., “LAST UPDATED 10:44AM” shown in FIG. 7C) is also displayed on the home screen. In FIG. 7D,the initiation requirement (e.g., the downward tug/scrolling isreleased) is fulfilled to initiate updating the home screen, and anupdating progress (e.g., “UPDATING” shown in FIG. 7D) is displayed onthe home screen until completion of updating the home screen.

In an exemplary embodiment, a processor of the mobile communicationsdevice is configured to cooperate with the display panel to perform theprocess of activating an update of a home screen of a mobilecommunications device. In another exemplary embodiment, a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium (e.g., a memory device in the mobilecommunications device/processor or an external memory device accessibleby the mobile communications device/processor) containing a computerprogram product comprising mobile communications device executableinstructions can be executed by the mobile communications device toperform the process of activating an update of a home screen of a mobilecommunications device.

Configuration of Feeds on Home Screen

In order to configuring a home screen of a mobile communications device,as embodied in the present application, a mobile communications devicecomprises a display panel displaying a home screen; and a processorconnected to the display panel and configured to configure and updatethe home screen, the home screen comprising a plurality of tiles, eachof the tiles displaying a feed from a corresponding one of feed sources,wherein the processor is configured to fill the tiles into the homescreen that has a top page, one or more pages being addable immediatelyabove the top page, each page having a layout of a plurality of slots,each of the slots being for accommodating a corresponding one of thetiles, and wherein after an update that results in insertion of at leastone new tile into the home screen occurs, the processor is configured toplace at least one new tile displaying a new feed on the top page, andto move at least one existing tile that was on the top page prior to theupdate to a new, different location of the home screen. In an exemplaryembodiment, the new location of the at least one existing tile is on apage below the top page or on the top page. In an exemplary embodiment,the process of placing at least one new tile displaying a new feed onthe top page, and moving at least one existing tile that was on the toppage prior to the update to a new, different location of the home screenincludes inserting at least one new page into the home screen as the toppage to accommodate the at least one new tile; and moving the top pageprior to the update downward to be below the new page. In an exemplaryembodiment, in the process of moving the top page prior to the updatedownward to be below the new page, all existing tiles that were on thetop page prior to the update remain on the same page that is moveddownward to be below the new page. In an exemplary embodiment, theprocess of placing at least one new tile displaying a new feed on thetop page, and moving at least one existing tile that was on the top pageprior to the update to a new, different location of the home screenincludes moving all existing pages prior to the update downward to bebelow the new page.

For example, as embodied in FIG. 8A, the home screen has a top page 801with a plurality of tiles 8011-8013 inserted therein, and can have oneor more pages addable immediately above the top page 801. For example,the page 802 immediately below the top page 801 may be the previous toppage with tiles 8021-8024, and the current top page 801 is addedimmediately above the top page 801 after an update that results ininsertion of at least one new tile (e.g., tiles 8011-8013) into the homescreen occurs. As shown in FIG. 8A, each of the tiles displays a feedfrom a corresponding one of feed sources.

As embodied in FIGS. 8A and 8B (in particular FIG. 8B), each page801/802 has a layout 801L/802L of a plurality of slots8011S-8013S/8021S-8024S, and each of the slots 8011S-8013S/8021S-8024Sis for accommodating a corresponding one of the tiles8011-8013/8021-8024.

In addition, after an update that results in insertion of at least onenew tile into the home screen occurs, the at least one new tiledisplaying a new feed is displayed on the top page, and at least oneexisting tile that was on the top page prior to the update is moved to anew, different location of the home screen. For example, as mentioned,the page 802 immediately below the top page 801 may be the previous toppage with tiles 8021-8024, and the current top page 801 is addedimmediately above the top page 801 after an update that results ininsertion of at least one new tile (e.g., tiles 8011-8013) into the homescreen occurs. In another embodiment, it is also possible that only onenew tile is added into the top page resulting from the update; in thiscase, at least one existing tile that was on the top page prior to theupdate is moved to a new, different location of the home screen. Forexample, as shown in FIG. 9, the top page prior to the update may onlyhave two tiles 9012, 9013, and the insertion of the new tile 9011 willchange the location of at least one of the existing tiles 9012, 9013 onthe top page.

In another embodiment, as shown in FIG. 10, it is also possible that thetop page prior to the update may have four (4) tiles 1012, 1013, 1014,1015 (which for example the maximum number of tiles in a page), and theinsertion of one new tile will add a new top page and push the previoustop page to be below the new top page. The new top page includes the newtile 1011 and one pre-existing tile 1012 (the location of which has beenchanged), and the other three pre-existing tiles 1013, 1014, 1015 arelocated on the page that is immediately below the new top page.

In an exemplary embodiment, when a total number of pages after theupdate exceeds a predetermined number by N (N>0), a last N page(s) atthe bottom of the home screen is (are) removed from the home screen. Forexample, when the home screen is currently display a maximum number ofpages, e.g., thirty pages, and two new pages are to be added to the homescreen after an update, then the last two pages at the bottom of thehome screen will be removed from the home screen and the two new pageswill be added to the top of the home screen.

In an exemplary embodiment, a layout of the new page is randomlyselected from a plurality of pre-defined layouts. In an exemplaryembodiment, a layout of the top page is randomly selected from aplurality of pre-defined layouts. For example, a layout of the new pageor the top page is randomly selected from a plurality of pre-definedlayouts as shown in FIGS. 11-13. As shown in FIGS. 11-13, thepre-defined layouts may have two, three or four slots. It should benoted that the pre-defined layouts shown in FIGS. 11-13 are simplyexamples to illustrate the present invention, and other pre-definedlayouts with different configuration and/or different (more or less)slots are also possible. When a plurality of new feeds are to be addedto the home screen after an update occurs, the layout of each page israndomly selected as long as the total number of the slots match thetotal number of new feeds.

In an exemplary embodiment, a weather tile that displays a current time,a current date and latest updated weather information is placed in thehome screen and immediately above the top page, and a size and alocation of the weather tile are fixed prior to and after the update.For example, as shown in FIG. 8A, a weather tile 8010 that displays acurrent time, a current date and latest updated weather information isplaced in the home screen and immediately above the top page 801, and asize and a location of the weather tile 801 are fixed prior to and afterthe update.

In an embodiment, the feeds are categorized into a plurality ofcategories. In an exemplary embodiment, the categories include a localcontent feed category in which the content of the feed is locally storedin the mobile communications device or generated by an application inthe mobile communications device (e.g., photo, audio, video clips,applications, etc. locally stored in the mobile communications device),a social network feed category in which the content of the feed isretrieved from a social network service (e.g., Facebook, MySpace,Twitter, Plurk, Linkedin, Flicker, etc.), and a News feed category inwhich the content of the feed is retrieved from an Internet networkservice.

In an exemplary embodiment, the tiles are arranged in the home screen inan order based on the categories of the feeds. For example, the localcontent feeds, social network feeds and news feeds can be displayed witha first, a second and a third priority, respectively. In an exemplaryembodiment, the tiles displaying the feeds within a same category in thehome screen are arranged in a chronological order. In another exemplaryembodiment, the tiles displaying the feeds within a same category arearranged based on usage of the feeds within the same category. Forexample, if the user uses the feeds from a particular social networkserver more often than the feeds from another social network server, thefeeds from the particular social network server will have a higherpriority to be displayed on the home screen than those from anothersocial network server.

In another embodiment, a layout of the new page and the top page israndomly selected from a plurality of pre-defined layouts until thenumber of the new feeds is equal to or less than a predetermined number.This predetermined number is the sum of the maximum number of slots inany of the pre-defined layouts and the minimum number of slots in any ofthe pre-defined layouts. As mentioned, a layout of the new page and thetop page is randomly selected from a plurality of pre-defined layoutsuntil the number of the new feeds is equal to less than a predeterminednumber that is the sum of the maximum number of slots in any of thepre-defined layouts and the minimum number of slots in any of thepre-defined layouts. If the pre-defined layouts have M, N, O, . . . Xslots (wherein M<N<O< . . . <X), then a layout of the page can no longerbe randomly selected from a plurality of pre-defined layouts when thenumber of the new feeds is equal to or less than (X+M)−1, wherein X isthe maximum number of slots in any of the pre-defined layouts, and M isthe minimum number of slots in any of the pre-defined layouts Forexample, if the pre-defined layouts have two, three, four or five slots,when there are only six (5+2−1=6) or less new feeds remaining to beinserted, the layout(s) to be selected will be limited to make sure thatall remaining new feeds will be displayed.

Using the pre-defined layouts shown in FIGS. 11-13 as an example, thepre-defined layouts may have two, three or four slots. When a totalnumber of ten new feeds are to be added to the home screen, the layoutof the first new page can be randomly selected to display some of thenew feeds. However, in this example, when there are only five (4+2−1=5)or less new feeds remaining to be inserted, the layout can no longer berandomly selected. For example, if the randomly selected layout has fourslots, and four of the five new feeds are inserted into the layout, thenonly one new feed remains to be inserted. However, the pre-definedlayouts do not have any layout with only 1 slot, and therefore cannot beselected to display the last new feed. Therefore, in this example, whenthere are only five or less new feeds remaining to be inserted, thelayout(s) to be selected will be limited to make sure that all remainingnew feeds will be displayed. For example, in the case there are onlyfive new feeds remaining to be inserted, only one layout of two slotsand one layout of two slots will be selected to display the last fivenew feeds.

In another embodiment, a layout of the new page and the top page israndomly selected from a plurality of pre-defined layouts until thenumber of the new feeds is less than the minimum number of slots in anyof the pre-defined layouts, and the remaining feed(s) will then bediscarded. For example, the pre-defined layouts may have two, three orfour slots as shown in FIGS. 11-13. When a total number of ten new feedsare to be added to the home screen, the layout of the first new page canbe randomly selected to display some of the new feeds. When there areonly five new feeds remaining to be inserted, the layout can still berandomly selected. For example, if the randomly selected layout has fourslots, and four of the five new feeds are inserted into the layout, thenonly one new feed remains to be inserted. However, the pre-definedlayouts do not have any layout with only 1 slot, and therefore cannot beselected to display the last new feed. In this case, the only remainingnew feed will be discarded.

In another exemplary embodiment, the tiles are arranged in the homescreen in an order based on the categories, the sub-categories, theresolution/size of the photos, and the timestamp (chronological order)of the feeds, and the tiles are arranged in a corresponding layout isarranged based on the resolution/size of the photo of the feeds. Forexample, in an exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 14, there are threecategories (e.g., a local content feed category, a social network feedcategory and a News feed category), and each category has a number ofsub-categories (e.g., the social network feed category has threesub-categories: Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin; the News feed category hastwo sub-categories: Yahoo, MSN; the local content feed category has twosub-categories: photo, video.

In this exemplary embodiment, a total budget of ninety feeds can beinserted for an update, each category has a budget of thirty feeds to beinserted for an update, and each sub-category of the social network feedcategory has a budget of ten feeds, and each sub-category of News feedcategory and of local content feed category has a budget of fifteenfeeds for an update. When each sub-category has more than thepredetermined number of feeds (e.g., ten feeds for Facebook) availableto be updated, the feeds in the same sub-category are first sorted basedon the resolution or size of the photo in the feeds (the higher/largerthe resolution/size, the higher priority the feed has). If the feedshave no photo, they will have lowest priority in the same sub-category.Then the predetermined number of feeds with the highest priority will beselected and the rest feeds will be discarded. If any sub-category hasless than the predetermined number of feeds available for an update, allavailable feeds in the sub-category will be selected. It should be notedthat the above example is simply used for illustration purposes. It isalso possible to set the same budget or different budgets for differentcategories/subcategories, as long as the total budget of feeds is thesame. For example, the budget for the local content feed category, thesocial network feed category, the News feed category can be twentyfeeds, fifty feeds and twenty feeds (total of ninety feeds), and thebudget for the sub-categories of the social network feed category can bethirty feeds for Facebook, fifteen feeds for Twitter, and five feeds forLinkedin.

After all feeds for each sub-category are selected, the feeds in thesame sub-category are sorted in a chronological order with the newestfeed on the top. In other words, each sub-category has a sorted list offeeds in a chronological order, as shown in FIG. 14. As shown in FIG.14, the higher the feeds are located in the sub-category, the newer thefeeds are in the sub-category.

Before inserting the feeds in the layouts, the layouts are randomlyselected, and the feeds will be selected based on the category order(e.g., local content feed→social network feed→News feed), thesubcategory order (e.g., photo→video, Facebook→Twitter→LinkedIn,Yahoo→MSN), and the chronological order of the feeds in the subcategory,and are inserted into the randomly selected layout. For example, if alayout of 4 slots is selected for the top page, the newest feed in thephoto sub-category (P1), the newest feed of the Facebook (F1), thenewest feed of Yahoo (Y1), and the newest video feed in the videosub-category (V1) are selected and to be inserted into the randomlyselected layout; if a layout of four slots is selected for the secondpage, the feeds that are selected and to be inserted into the randomlyselected layout will be T1, M1, P2, L1; if a layout of three slots isselected for the third page, the feeds that are selected and to beinserted into the randomly selected layout will be Y2, V2, F2 . . . . Ifthere is no feed available to be selected in a particular sub-categoryof a category during this process, the feed in the next availablesub-category in the same category will be selected. If there is no feedavailable to be selected in a particular category, the feed in the nextavailable sub-category in the next available category will be selected.This process continues until all feeds are selected. By selecting thefeeds in this manner, it can diversify the feeds in a single page, whichare likely selected from different categories/sub-categories.

In addition, for the feeds that are selected for a particular page, thefeeds having photos with higher resolution/size will be assigned tobigger slots, and the feeds having photos with lower resolution/size orhaving no photo will be assigned to smaller slots.

In an exemplary embodiment, a processor of the mobile communicationsdevice is configured to perform the process of configuring a home screenof a mobile communications device. In another exemplary embodiment, anon-transitory computer-readable medium (e.g., a memory device in themobile communications device/processor or an external memory deviceaccessible by the mobile communications device/processor) containing acomputer program product comprising mobile communications deviceexecutable instructions can be executed by the mobile communicationsdevice to perform the process of configuring a home screen of a mobilecommunications device.

In order to configuring a home screen of a mobile communications device,as further embodied in the present application, a mobile communicationsdevice comprises a processor configured to select some of candidatefeeds from one or more of feed sources based on a predetermined budget,and configured to insert the selected feeds into a home screen, whereineach of the candidate feeds is categorized into one of a plurality ofcategories, and the predetermined budget sets a first predeterminedmaximum number of feeds to be selected in a corresponding one of thecategories; and a display panel connected to the processor anddisplaying the home screen that displays the selected feeds.

FIG. 15 is a flow chart illustrating selecting template sizes to displayFeed contents in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention. The objective is to construct the Feed view according to aneed of the user. In step S1501, the candidate feeds to be displayed aregathered from a variety of different sources. The candidate feeds mayinclude photographs, motion pictures, text, and etc. In step S1502, thecandidate feeds are randomized to ensure that all variety of differentsources would be displayed. The purpose is to expose a user to a varietyof different sources. In step S1503, the feeds to be displayed in theFeed view is selected from candidate feeds. In step S1504, the selectedfeeds are sorted according to a chronological order such that the Feedview will be presented page by page basically in a chronological order.In an exemplary embodiment, a layout of each of one or more pages isselected from a plurality of pre-defined layouts, each layout has aplurality of slots, each of the slots is for accommodating acorresponding one of the selected feeds, and the selected feeds areinserted into the slots. In an exemplary embodiment, the layout of eachpage is selected based on contents of the selected feeds to be insertedin the same page. For example, in step S1505, for each page of the Feedview, a most suitable frame layout will be selected from a set ofpredetermined frame layouts. In step S1506, the Feed view is constructedand displayed in the mobile communications device. A more specificembodiment is elucidated as follows.

Assuming that it is desired to construct a Feed view to maximize thedisplay of photographs. In step S1501, candidate feeds are to begathered from a variety of difference sources. The sources could includesources from external social network servers such as Facebook, Myspace,Twitter, Plurk, Linkedin, Flicker, and etc. The sources could besynchronized from external news network such as Yahoo news, Google news,etc. The sources could otherwise include data which is native to thestorage medium of the mobile communications device. For example, thefeeds could be a photograph which could be opened by a galleryapplication. The feeds could be multimedia data such as motion pictures,photographs, drawings, etc. The feeds could be one or more events from acalendar application or a daily planner. The feeds could be one or moresale information or coupons from the application like Best deals, and soforth.

In step S1502, the candidate feeds are randomized to ensure that allvariety of different sources would be displayed. In order to expose auser to a variety of different sources, a budget would be assigned foreach category of sources of information. For example, a budget of thirtyfeeds could be assigned to the social network so that the Feed viewwould contain no more than thirty feeds of information from the socialnetwork. Similarly, a budget of forty feeds could be assigned to thenews source. A budget of ten feeds could be assigned from data native tothe mobile communications device. It should be noted that these numbersare merely exemplary and are not construed as limitations. It alsoshould be noted that, the over budgeting could be used so that themobile communications device could consider more than the budgetednumber of feeds to ensure more candidate items are considered andeventually eliminate the number of feeds which exceed the budget.

In an exemplary embodiment, when a first one of the selected feeds to beinserted in the same page includes a picture and a second one of theselected feeds to be inserted in the same page includes no picture, thelayout of the same page is selected to have a larger slot foraccommodating the first one of the selected feeds and a smaller slot foraccommodating the second one of the selected feeds. In an exemplaryembodiment, when a first one of the selected feeds to be inserted in thesame page includes a picture with a higher resolution or size, and asecond one of the selected feeds to be inserted in the same pageincludes a picture with a lower resolution or size, the layout of thesame page is selected to have a larger slot for accommodating the firstone of the selected feeds and a smaller slot for accommodating thesecond one of the selected feeds. In an exemplary embodiment, at mostthe first predetermined maximum number of feeds is selected from thecandidate feeds based on a grade assigned to each of the candidatefeeds. In an exemplary embodiment, the grade assigned to each of thecandidate feeds is assigned based on existence of a picture in each ofthe candidate feeds, and further based on a resolution or a size of anexisting picture in any of the candidate feeds.

For example, the consideration criteria could be based on thequality/resolution or the size of pictures. For example, the picturescould be assigned to a grade from “1” to “5” with “5” being the highestgrade. Pictures with the most number of pixels or the highest resolutionor the maximum size could be assigned “5”, and a text without picturescould be assigned “1”, and others in between.

In an exemplary embodiment, the selected feeds from a same one of thecategories are inserted into the home screen in a predetermined order.In an exemplary embodiment, the predetermined order is a chronologicalorder. In an exemplary embodiment, the selected feeds from the same oneof the categories are sorted in the chronological order before insertioninto the home screen. In an exemplary embodiment, at least one of thecategories includes a plurality of sub-categories, wherein thepredetermined budget sets a second predetermined maximum number of feedsto be selected from a corresponding one of the sub-categories, andwherein the second predetermined maximum number is smaller than thefirst predetermined maximum number. In an exemplary embodiment, at mostthe second predetermined maximum number of feeds are selected from thecandidate feeds in the corresponding one of the sub-categories based onan assigned grade to each of the candidate feeds in the correspondingone of the sub-categories. In an exemplary embodiment, the gradeassigned to each of the candidate feeds in the corresponding one of thesub-categories is assigned based on existence of a picture in each ofthe candidate feeds in the corresponding one of the sub-categories, andfurther based on a resolution or a size of an existing picture in any ofthe candidate feeds in the corresponding one of the sub-categories. Inan exemplary embodiment, at least one of the categories includes aplurality of sub-categories, and in the inserting step the selectedfeeds from a same one of the sub-categories are inserted into the homescreen in a predetermined order. In an exemplary embodiment, thepredetermined order is a chronological order. In an exemplaryembodiment, the selected feeds from the same one of the sub-categoriesare sorted in the chronological order before insertion into the homescreen. In an exemplary embodiment, the categories include a localcontent feed category in which the content of the feed is locally storedin the mobile communications device or generated by an application inthe mobile communications device, a social network feed category inwhich the content of the feed is retrieved from a social networkservice, and a News feed category in which the content of the feed isretrieved from an Internet network service.

For example, to further ensure a yet better randomization, a budgetcould be assigned to a category of information. For example, a budget of30 feeds of information is set to be from the social network. A budgetof ten could be assigned to Facebook, ten feeds could be from Twitter,and ten feeds could be from Plurk, etc. Each source of the socialnetwork could be assigned a minimum quota that so that each sub-categorywould be required to have a certain number of sources.

In step S1503, the feeds to be displayed in the Feed view is selectedfrom candidate feeds. When it is desired to maximum the number ofpictures displayed in the Feed view, then the feeds with the highestscore would be selected first. For example, if a budget of ten feeds areassigned to Yahoo news, but fifteen feeds (over-budgeting) are availablefor consideration, then fifteen feeds would be ranked according to theirhighest score/grade, and ten items with the best score will be selectedfrom the fifteen available feeds.

In step S1504, the selected feeds are sorted according to achronological order such that the Feed view will be presented page bypage in a chronological order. After the candidate feeds have beenselected in step S1503, in step S504, the feeds which have been chosento be displayed would be sorted according to a chronological order sothat the most recent feed would be displayed at the top of the Feedview, and the most ancient feed would be basically displayed at the verybottom.

In step S1505, for each page of the Feed view, a most suitable framelayout will be selected from a set of predetermined frame layouts. In anexemplary embodiment, a variety of different frame layout templates arepredefined and stored in the storage medium of the mobile communicationsdevice. The goal of step S1505 is to match the sorted data with thetemplate having the most suitable shape in order to fit the pictures. Inan exemplary embodiment, a weather tile that displays a current time, acurrent date and latest updated weather information is placed in thehome screen and immediately above the selected feeds, wherein a size anda location of the weather tile are fixed. For example, if for the toppage of the Feed view, the most recent feeds contain 2 largephotographs, the layout/template selected will most likely be a templatewith a weather tile on top and the remaining space evenly or unevenlydivided for the 2 large photographs. On the other hand, if a page doesnot contain any feeds that have pictures but text, then a template withnumerous smaller slots could be selected.

In step S1506, the Feed view is constructed and displayed in the mobilecommunications device. In one exemplary embodiment, the Feed view wouldcontain at most 80 pages of Feed view with each page matching the screensize. The top page would contain a weather, time, and data information.The user may scroll among the pages according to a touch and swipeaction up or down. When the user scrolls to the top most page and applya tug on the top most page, a menu bar could appear. An update of theFeed view could be triggered only if the scrolling velocity is below avelocity threshold, and the pulling distance must be above a distancethreshold.

In an exemplary embodiment, a processor of the mobile communicationsdevice is configured to perform the process of configuring a home screenof a mobile communications device. In another exemplary embodiment, anon-transitory computer-readable medium (e.g., a memory device in themobile communications device/processor or an external memory deviceaccessible by the mobile communications device/processor) containing acomputer program product comprising mobile communications deviceexecutable instructions can be executed by the mobile communicationsdevice to perform the process of configuring a home screen of a mobilecommunications device.

The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same maybe varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as adeparture from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all suchmodifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intendedto be included within the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of activating an update of a home screenof a mobile communications device, the home screen being displayed on adisplay panel of the mobile communications device, the home screencomprising a plurality of tiles displaying a plurality of feeds from oneor more feed sources, the method comprising: performing one of updatingthe home screen or activating and displaying a menu bar on the displaypanel based on a distance of a downward scrolling on a top page of ahome screen.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: measuring thedistance of the downward scrolling on the top page of the home screen;activating and displaying a menu bar on the display panel when thedistance of the downward scrolling on the top page of the home screen isdetermined to be not greater than a predetermined distance threshold;and updating the home screen after the distance of the downwardscrolling on the top page of the home screen is determined to be greaterthan a predetermined distance threshold.
 3. The method of claim 2,further comprising: displaying on the home screen an initiationrequirement to be fulfilled to initiate updating the home screen whenthe distance of the downward scrolling on the top page of the homescreen is determined to be greater than the predetermined distancethreshold, wherein the step of updating the home screen includesupdating the home screen upon fulfillment of the initiation requirement.4. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of performing one of updatingthe home screen or activating and displaying the menu bar on the displaypanel is further based on a speed of the downward scrolling on the toppage of the home screen.
 5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:measuring the speed and the distance of the downward scrolling on thetop page of the home screen; and updating the home screen only when thespeed of the downward scrolling is determined to be not greater than apredetermined speed threshold and the distance of the downward scrollingis greater than a predetermined distance threshold.
 6. The method ofclaim 5, wherein the performing step further includes: activating anddisplaying a menu bar on the display panel when either the speed of thedownward scrolling is determined to be greater than the predeterminedspeed threshold, or the speed of the downward scrolling is determined tobe not greater than the predetermined speed threshold but the distanceof the downward scrolling is determined to be not greater than thepredetermined distance threshold.
 7. The method of claim 4, furthercomprising: measuring the speed of the downward scrolling on the toppage of the home screen; activating and displaying the menu bar on thedisplay panel when the speed of the downward scrolling is determined tobe greater than a predetermined speed threshold; measuring the distanceof the downward scrolling when the speed of the downward scrolling isdetermined to be not greater than the predetermined speed threshold;updating the home screen when the distance of the downward scrolling isdetermined to be greater than a predetermined distance threshold; andactivating and displaying the menu bar on the display panel when thedistance of the downward scrolling is determined to be not greater thana predetermined distance threshold.
 8. The method of claim 7, whereinthe step of activating and displaying the menu bar on the display panelwhen the speed of the downward scrolling is determined to be greaterthan the predetermined speed threshold includes activating anddisplaying the menu bar on the display panel without updating the homescreen.
 9. The method of claim 7, wherein the step of activating anddisplaying the menu bar on the display panel when the distance of thedownward scrolling is determined to be not greater than thepredetermined distance threshold includes activating and displaying themenu bar on the display panel without updating the home screen. 10.Anon-transitory computer-readable medium containing a computer programproduct comprising mobile communications device executable instructionsfor activating an update of a home screen of a mobile communicationsdevice, the home screen being displayed on a display panel of the mobilecommunications device, the home screen comprising a plurality of tilesdisplaying a plurality of feeds from one or more feed sources, themobile communications device executable instructions comprising:performing one of updating the home screen or activating and displayinga menu bar on the display panel based on a distance of a downwardscrolling on a top page of a home screen.
 11. A mobile communicationsdevice comprising: a display panel displaying a home screen; and aprocessor connected to the display panel and configured to configure thehome screen displayed on the display panel, the home screen comprising aplurality of tiles displaying a plurality of feeds from one or more feedsources, wherein the processor is further configured to: perform one ofupdating the home screen or activating and displaying a menu bar on thedisplay panel based on a distance of a downward scrolling on a top pageof a home screen.
 12. The mobile communications device of claim 11,wherein the processor is further configured to: measure the distance ofthe downward scrolling on the top page of the home screen.
 13. Themobile communications device of claim 12, wherein the processor isfurther configured to: activate and display a menu bar on the displaypanel when the distance of the downward scrolling on the top page of thehome screen is determined to be not greater than a predetermineddistance threshold; and update the home screen after the distance of thedownward scrolling on the top page of the home screen is determined tobe greater than a predetermined distance threshold.
 14. The mobilecommunications device of claim 13, wherein the processor is furtherconfigured to: display on the home screen an initiation requirement tobe fulfilled to initiate updating the home screen when the distance ofthe downward scrolling on the top page of the home screen is determinedto be greater than the predetermined distance threshold, wherein theprocessor is further configured to update the home screen uponfulfillment of the initiation requirement.
 15. The mobile communicationsdevice of claim 14, wherein the processor is further configured to:display on the home screen a time of a last update of the home screenwith the initiation requirement when the distance of the downwardscrolling on the top page of the home screen is determined to be greaterthan the predetermined distance threshold; and display an updatingprogress on the home screen until completion of updating the homescreen.
 16. The mobile communications device of claim 11, wherein theprocessor is configured to perform one of updating the home screen oractivating and displaying the menu bar on the display panel furtherbased on a speed of the downward scrolling on the top page of the homescreen.
 17. The mobile communications device of claim 16, wherein theprocessor is further configured to: measure the speed and the distanceof the downward scrolling on the top page of the home screen.
 18. Themobile communications device of claim 17, wherein the processor isfurther configured to: update the home screen only when the speed of thedownward scrolling is determined to be not greater than a predeterminedspeed threshold and the distance of the downward scrolling is greaterthan a predetermined distance threshold.
 19. The mobile communicationsdevice of claim 18, wherein the processor is further configured to:activate and display a menu bar on the display panel when either thespeed of the downward scrolling is determined to be greater than thepredetermined speed threshold, or the speed of the downward scrolling isdetermined to be not greater than the predetermined speed threshold butthe distance of the downward scrolling is determined to be not greaterthan the predetermined distance threshold.
 20. The mobile communicationsdevice of claim 16, wherein the processor is further configured to:measure the speed of the downward scrolling on the top page of the homescreen; activate and display the menu bar on the display panel when thespeed of the downward scrolling is determined to be greater than apredetermined speed threshold; measure the distance of the downwardscrolling when the speed of the downward scrolling is determined to benot greater than the predetermined speed threshold; update the homescreen when the distance of the downward scrolling is determined to begreater than a predetermined distance threshold; and activate anddisplay the menu bar on the display panel when the distance of thedownward scrolling is determined to be not greater than a predetermineddistance threshold.
 21. The mobile communications device of claim 20,wherein the processor is further configured to activate and display themenu bar on the display panel without updating the home screen when thespeed of the downward scrolling is determined to be greater than thenon-zero predetermined speed.
 22. The mobile communications device ofclaim 20, wherein the processor is further configured to activate anddisplay the menu bar on the display panel without updating the homescreen when the distance of the downward scrolling is determined to benot greater than the non-zero predetermined distance threshold.
 23. Themobile communications device of claim 11, wherein the menu bar includesat least one touch button to trigger at least one of a browse operation,a search operation, a social network service, and a linking operation toan external server.